


break me down (and build me up)

by parkerxheart



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst, Bruises, Bullying, Crying, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flash is a dick, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hugs, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Iron Dad, Iron dad and Spider son, Mental Breakdown, Peter Parker Feels, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker Whump, Platonic Cuddling, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Whump, it's me what do you expect, spider son, tony and peter hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-30 22:32:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19412743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkerxheart/pseuds/parkerxheart
Summary: His eyes narrowed on a kid next to Peter, something about him seeming off.Then he was putting hands on Peter, who was sent falling down the hard concrete stairs.And Tony wasn’t sure he had ever felt such rage bubble through his body in his life.He was out of the car and sprinting towards Peter in an instant, arriving at his side in less than ten seconds.“Who the fuck are you?”ORTony finds out Peter's being bullied and to say that he was angry is a terrible understatement.





	break me down (and build me up)

**Author's Note:**

> title from Believer by Imagine Dragons (fucking love that song)

“What the fuck is that?” Tony almost shouted, eyes fixated on the black, blue, and purple bruise on Peter’s side.

Peter’s eyes widened and he pulled his shirt back down. “Nothing! I uh- I got hit- uh on patrol! It’s nothing!”

“That should have been healed by now,” Tony said. “Peter, is someone hurting you?”

“No! I’m- I’m fine- I’m fine uh . . . don’t worry about me,” Peter stuttered, subconsciously covering his side with his hand. “I’m fine.”

“Don’t,” Tony seethed. “Don’t lie to me. _What_ the _fuck_ happened to you and _why_ are you keeping it from me?”

“Stop getting mad at me,” Peter whimpered, curling away from Tony.

Tony instantly felt like the biggest asshole in the world. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you.” He reached out to gently cup Peter’s cheek in his hand, but his heart twisted when the kid flinched away. “Pete, I’m not mad. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like that.”

Peter’s facade was crumbling. Tony could see it. “I told you, I’m fine. I just got hit on patrol.”

Tony wanted to believe him. Every part of him wanted to believe him. 

But he just _couldn’t._

There was no way something like that didn’t heal overnight with Peter’s freaky enhanced healing. 

“Peter,” Tony whispered. “Please tell me the truth.”

Peter stared at him for a second and then his bottom lip started to quiver, a telltale sign that he was close to tears.

Heart shattering, Tony drew Peter in for a hug, the kid’s entire body melting into the touch as he pressed his face into Tony’s shoulder.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Tony soothed. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered. “I’m sorry- I’m sorry!”

“Hey, don’t apologize, it’s okay,” Tony said softly. “It’s okay.”

Tony held Peter while he tried his best no to cry into his shoulder, occasionally whispering some condolences. 

When Peter pulled away, Tony immediately cupped his cheek in one hand. “What happened, bud?”

Peter’s bottom lip continued to tremble, eyes shining with unshed tears. “You- you remember when I told you about Flash? How- how he calls me an . . . an orphan?”

Anger filled Tony’s veins as he pieced together where this was going. “Oh my god, kid. Is he physically hurting you now?”

Two tears slipped down Peter’s face. “He- he just shoved me and I fell and- I- and I- fell against the corner of the- of the water fountain.”

“Oh god,” Tony whispered, managing to suppress his pure rage, brushing some loose curls off Peter’s forehead. “Christ, Peter. How long has this been going on for?”

“He’s always been a dick,” Peter said quietly. “But he only really started hurting me last year I think.”

_He’s been getting bullied for a year and I didn’t even notice._

_What kind of a father-figure am I?_

“I’ll get him expelled.”

“No!” Peter cried, grabbing Tony’s wrist. “Don’t do that. It’s okay. It’s not a big deal.”

“Peter. You’re here and you’re in tears and you have a huge bruise on your side-”

“I’ve had so much worse! It’s _nothing_ compared to when Ben died.”

That silenced the both of them for a solid ten seconds.

“That doesn’t mean it’s okay,” Tony whispered. “He shouldn’t be hurting you in the first place.”

“Please don’t get him expelled, Tony,” Peter whimpered. “I can deal with it.”

Tony gritted his teeth. “Fine, but if he hurts you again I’m going to do something.”

Peter just ducked his head.

“Hug?” Tony asked softly. Peter nodded and wrapped his arms around Tony’s middle as the man hugged him tightly. 

There weren’t any more days like that for two weeks.

Until Tony came to pick Peter up from school.

His eyes narrowed on a kid next to Peter, something about him seeming off.

Then he was putting hands on Peter, who was sent falling down the hard concrete stairs.

And Tony wasn’t sure he had ever felt such rage bubble through his body in his life.

He was out of the car and sprinting towards Peter in an instant, arriving at his side in less than ten seconds. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Tony exclaimed, jabbing a finger at the kid who pushed Peter, who had gone completely pale. Peter looked up at him with wide eyes.

“I’m Flash, sir,” he gulped.

“So it’s you who’s been picking on him,” Tony muttered, trying to keep his anger contained while helping Peter up from the ground. He spared a quick glance at Peter’s hands, clenching his own hands into fists when he saw that the skin had been ripped away on the palms, leaving open and bleeding lacerations.

“You keep ten feet away from him,” Tony snarled, protectively holding one of Peter’s shoulders. “I could ruin your life.”

“Yes sir, I’m sorry,” Flash practically whimpered.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked Peter as gently as he could manage through the sheer rage.

Peter hid his hands. “I’m fine.”

Tony said some colourful words to Flash before leading Peter to the car and taking off for the compound.

He didn’t make Peter talk. He wanted to save that for when he could face him fully and after he cleaned up the wounds on his hands. 

Upon arrival, Tony brought Peter to the lab where he brought out the supplies always used to tend to his own wounds. 

Peter was being relatively stoic, unshed tears in his eyes. Tony tried to ignore the ache in his heart as he cleaned off the lacerations as gently as possible, knowing how much that shit stings in wounds like this.

Peter winced as Tony smoothed butterfly Band-Aids over the wounds before wordlessly drawing him in for a hug, an extremely familiar one too, considering they hugged over this exact thing just two weeks ago.

Peter eventually broke away.

Tony was the first to break the silence that had been there since they were in the car. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Peter whispered. “It’s fine. They’ll . . . they’ll heal fast.”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Pete,” Tony said softly.

Peter bit his lip and nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. “I know.”

“What did he say to you?”

“The usual,” Peter murmured. “Orphan. Penis Parker. Useless. You didn’t have to help me. I was okay.”

“God, Peter. I would really appreciate it if you stopped saying you were okay when I know for damn well sure that you’re not,” Tony said as gentle as he could. 

Face scrunched up in pain, Peter ducked his head. “I- I- I was just- I just . . . I wanted- I wanted- I wanted to be strong.”

Tony’s heart broke, knowing all too well how that felt. “Peter, you don’t have to put yourself through pain to be strong.”

“It’s just that- it’s just that if I ask for help . . . in my mind it makes me weak,” Peter whispered, his voice wavering.

‘It doesn’t,” Tony reassured softly. “It doesn’t at all. Bullying sucks, it really sucks. And it can break even the strongest person. Asking for help when you’re hurting, when you need it, does not make you weak in any way shape or form. It’s okay to let someone help you, because everyone needs someone to lean on.” Tony tipped Peter’s chin up, the kid’s somewhat stoic expression about to break at any given moment. “And I am always here for you to lean on.”

And then it all broke. 

Horrible, strangled sobs broke free and Peter collapsed forward.

But Tony was right there to catch him, tightly wrapping his arms around the kid while he completely broke down and sobbed heartbreakingly.

He had never seen Peter lose it like this and it made his own tears threaten to fall, because seeing Peter in pain was one of the worst things he could ever imagine. 

“I’m sorry!” Peter wailed. “I’m so sorry!”

“No, shh, you have nothing to be sorry for,” Tony soothed, pushing Peter back just a little bit so he could gently kiss his forehead before hugging him again even tighter. “Don’t cry, kiddo. Everything is gonna be okay.”

Peter continued to wail into Tony’s shoulder, hugging him so tightly it could bruise, but Tony could not bring himself to care.

He knew how badly being bullied can hurt someone, and since Peter had been keeping it all bottled up for so long, years maybe, breaking down like this was inevitable. 

The cries eventually faded away into snivels and small hiccuping noises as Peter managed to calm down. It had been a while, and his tears probably left a huge wet patch on Tony’s shoulder, but for some reason he couldn’t care less.

Peter slowly pulled away, his eyes bruised and red from crying so hard and his face stained with tears. 

“It’s okay, Pete,” Tony said gently, wiping some tears away with his thumbs. 

Peter’s breathing hitched up as he leaned into the gesture. “Thanks, Tony.”

“Do you want me to talk to the school?”

“No, I don’t think he’s gonna be bothering me again after what you pulled back there,” Peter said. “Thanks, but please don’t do that again.”

“Oh, sorry,” Tony murmured.

“It’s okay.”

“Want another hug?” Tony asked and Peter nodded, lifting his arms. Tony took him in for another tight hug and dropped the side of his head against the top of Peter’s, buried in his curls. “I love you, Pete.”

“I love you too,” Peter whispered, his voice breaking. “So much.”

That day ended with the both of them falling asleep on the couch, exhausted. Peter was curled up into Tony's side, who had two arms wrapped protectively around his kid. Peter's head was comfortably tucked under Tony's chin as his chest fell and rose evenly.

 _I swear to fucking god, kid,_ Tony thought, right as he was drifting off. _I will never let anyone hurt you again._

**Author's Note:**

> i'm sure everyone has been bullied at some point, and yeah it really sucks. 
> 
> but we get through it.
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed <3


End file.
